Hard on the heels of the proposals for mergers of health trusts and authorities comes the latest proposal for mergers, this time of mergers of police forces across the West Midlands. 

My immediate reaction is one of suspicion. Where is the evidence that larger police forces can do the job any better than medium size forces like ours in West Mercia? 
Why is our force so popular with police personnel across the Midlands? 
Is it not the case, as with so many mergers, that the larger organisations want to subsume the smaller ones for their own benefit. Levelling up never happens but always levelling down in my experience. 
I expect there will be the usual response - enthusiasm from the largest forces and resistance from the medium and small forces. The Chief Constable of Gloucestershire has already spoken. I shall make sure I know the views of our own Chief Constable in due course.

I suspect this proposal is a shock for local officers. 

It was not mentioned at an excellent meeting last week to describe and take views on the initiative to be trialled in North Worcestershire that will study ways of implementing real neighbourhood policing. 
If all goes to plan, and a merger has no effect, in the next few months in Wyre Forest and other trial areas, each one of us will be given the telephone number of our local beat officer on duty. This should not be used for 999 calls which go straight through to the emergency services anyway but will improve our access to local police officers if we need their help.

CATCH (the Campaign against the Crown House) is looking for more members ahead of the TV programme "Demolition" to be screened on Channel Four in November. This will show that Crown House is one of the twelve buildings most deserving of demolition across the country. Even if our pet aversion wins it does not mean automatic demolition but at least it will make a strong argument for upgrading the external appearance of the building. 
At my latest meeting with the Chief Executive of the District Council, which owns the building, he assured me he was putting maximum pressure on the leaseholders who are responsible for external maintenance. 
If you are interested please contact my secretary on 01562 753333 who will then pass your details to CATCH.

I attended the AGM of Wyre Forest Talking Newspaper, the excellent charity that produces over 200 tapes of news items from local sources every week. These are distributed to those with poor sight or other disabilities that make reading the newspapers difficult. I was amazed to learn that demand for these tapes is declining although the number of people who would appreciate them is probably increasing. If you know anyone who would be interested in receiving a weekly news tape please telephone the honorary secretary on 01562 751980.